This occasional blog serves a number of functions. It’s a blank canvas. It’s a soapbox. And, it’s a time machine. As Sarah and I wrapped up the sweaty task of simplifying the contents of our house to put it on the market, we wondered aloud, “I wonder what it looked like before we moved in?”

So, while we sit here and wait for people to check out our home listing, we’re jumping into the WildThoughts time machine.

Side note: If you or someone you know is looking for a nice little house in a growing area of McKinney? Take a gander here.

Here’s the house now:

Thanks to the magic of the WildThoughts time machine, we can travel back to August, 2012 as Lewis roams our first home for the first time.

Invisible Changes

Compare the photos and superficial changes are easy to spot. The trees are taller. And I didn’t kill them. So, that’s amazing. My dad helped install the floors several years ago and they still look great. New windows came a few years later. Sarah added her shabby style.

But, photographs can’t capture the more monumental changes – the changes to us as we’ve done life here. We still love Lewis, but he has been replaced as our most beloved creature by our two boys. There’ve been a couple of seminary degrees that shaped our hearts and challenged our minds. There have been the successes and failures of work and relationships. The late night coffee conversations. The dinner parties. The friendships. The frustrations and triumphs.

This house was not just a place to be. It was a place to become. I could not be more thankful for the grace given here. The grace to live, to grow, and to even learn how to keep plants alive. If anything, I’m learning that it’s people who make a place and not the other way around.

Boxes hold most of our belongings now. The rooms look a bit more empty. But, to me, this remains a full house.